Volume 30, Number 2 (Spring) 1995
Papke, Leslie E. 1995. "Participation in and Contributions to 401(k) Pension Plans: Evidence from Plan Data." Journal of Human Resources 30(2):311-325.
401(k) plans differ from traditional employer-sponsored pension plans in that employees are permitted to make voluntary pre-tax contributions. Hence, the sensitivity of participation and contributions to plan characteristics-notably the employer matching rate-may play a critical role in retirement saving. Using plan level data from Form 5500s filed annually with the Internal Revenue Service, I find that substantial increases occur when an employer moves from a zero to a small or moderately sized match; but that at higher match rates employee contributions fall.
Leslie E. Papke is an assistant professor of economics at Michigan State University. She thanks Dan Beller, Bill Gale, Dan Hamermesh, Jim Poterba, Jeff Wooldridge, seminar participants at the Michigan State University, and three anonymous referees for helpful comments. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in August 1995 through August 1998 from Leslie E. Papke, Michigan State University, Department of Economics, Marshall Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824.
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